The lady I was taking care of as a rainbow

We had a funny day on 3/9, 2010.

The weather in Hilo has been dynamic.
The weather was changing a lot.


One day, I want to try kayak surfing and padding-boad surfing.




I have to enjoy Hilo's life as much as possible.

It is too bad that I am taking pictures. I wish I would be one of the people who ride on the kayak. Maybe next time!





When the lady who I was taking care of at night passed away, one of her friends saw rainbow.

She is my rainbow after I heard the story.

She came to visit us!

Rainbow started to be seen by me that it becomes a symbol of the lady.

Rainbow becomes special in my mind.

Aloha to her....

Memorial Gathering on 3/8, 2010

Goodbye to the shell of the lady who I was taking care of ....

She is going to leave Hilo for L.A. for her another funeral.

Tonight, we went to hilo's funeral home to see her.

Her face was the most peaceful face I have ever seen.

After the funeral home, we went to a restaurant for dinner.

She wants us to enjoy but not to be sad or crying.

One of her sons lets me stay her house till April.

I will find a new place to stay and start a new life.

I am going to miss this beautiful view.....

I love her house.

When I saw her shell tonight, I realized that she was not in her shell anymore.

Her spirit goes above.

When she passed away, she was in her shell, I thought.

It is not goodbye to her just to her shell.

Mahalo for having me.

She gave me lifetime gifts.

The lady who I was taking care of .....

The lady who I was taking care of at night passed away on March 4th around 4pm in the Hawaiian time.

I cried so hard that I thought I would not be able to function by myself.

When I arrived her place, she was cold but looked like that she was sleeping.

Her face was very peaceful.


Life is unexpected.

After she died, time moves countinously. However, my time could not keep up to the time. My time moves slowly.

I was going to talk with her, feed her, and take care of her all night.

A big change gave me deep regret of what I could not do for her, extreme sadness that I won't talk with and see her (figure), and confusion of what happened.

I could not stop crying. My time stopped. I could not eat.

My tears expressed my feeling, and at the same time, my whole body expressed my deep sadness.

I am sure that she will angrily say "Stop crying. Eat."

I have to be strong. She was strong. She had a strong spirit.

She gave me many colors in my life.

The color of my minds, body, and spirits were changing without a stable color.

I was with her only 104 days.

What color(s) did I give her?

(the lady with one of her caregivers)

She gave and left me many lessons and gifts.

I am very happy to know her, her caregivers (they are all nice!), her friends, her family and relatives.

They have supported me a lot. My friends also really support me.

Thanks to all!

Sometimes, I felt that I hated her; however, I really love her.

I still could not believe what happened and accept her death.

She is still inside of me with raw memories. It is hard to digest the memories of my 104 days at the bayshore tower.

I keep cleaning and organizing her things to hope that she will visit here.

I hope I can see her once a more to move on my life.

Molluacan Pot luck at the Zoology class

We had a potluck lunch at the Zoology class at noon.

Today's lecture's topic was about Molluscs, such as octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes.

The classmates brought a dish related to Molluscs.

I brought a dish something out of the topic.

I had an interesting day It was something that I could experiece only here (a small and freindly class)!

Banyon Trees

I love laying under the Banyon tree.

The trees give me a cool and big shadow.

If you come to Hilo, laying under them may be a good spot to experience!



They can grow big and widely. Their roots shoot from the branches growing toward ground.

They are interesting trees!

Tsunami Alert on 2/27, 2010

What a day today was!!

We had a Tsunami Alert in Hilo.

The power of 8.8 magnitudes earthquake in Chile was going to threaten us...

The Earth is so dynamic and powerful!

The news and radio stations were our main sources to get updated information.

The warning sounds for Tsunami started from the early morning around 5 (0r 6am).

For lunch, we (the lady and her son) went to the Mexican restaurant at Pahoa that is located within 15-20min drive.

Her son really helped us. Mahalo (thank you).

Almost everything, including seven-eleven stores, was closed in Hilo.

It turned out that Tsunami did not hit Hilo.
We had a peaceful sunset.



Tsunami was going to arrive here at around 11am. People who live down needed to evacuate for safety zones, including me.

Many people were upper ground and watching and waiting for Tsunami to hit Hilo.




We were at the ground of Hilo high school under a huge banyon tree.

It was such a nice and hot day! I felt something strange.

It seemed that nothing would hit Hilo. It was just so peaceful day!

This picture was taken around 9:30am before Tsunami might hit and we evacuated from our apartment.

How peaceful it was! How terrible Chile is now!

In Japan, we have a word to describe such a situation: "Arashi no kurumae no Shizukesa." It means that there is silence before a disaster/trouble (something bad) will happen.)

We are turly little creatures.

By the way,

Humans (Homo sapient) have only a spice even though other creatures have diverse spices..... The population of Homo sapient is way over. How the Earth will shift?

Nature in The Big Island

There were used to be a lot of mamane trees and koa trees (native plants in Hawai'i)....

What happened to this area?

In the history, many immigrants from other countries came here for new jobs, such as working at plantations and cattle.

In this area is located in a part of Mauna Kea (the high mountain).

As you can see the area becomes so dry and brownish...due to the cattle business in the past.

Over 100 years, people made money out of this land.

We need to care for at least 150 years to re-grow the area.

Still, some cows are left behind and telling our ancestors' history.

They eat mamane trees.

There are cow-free zones, and people re-grow mamane trees.

People's impact in Hawai'i is a really big issue, I believe.

I went to Mauna Loa (the world highest mountain if you measure from bottom of the ocean floor).

Mauna Loa is located to near the Kilauea (Volcano national park).

This area were used to be a cattle area as well.

The area once became bare and naked due to the cattle business.

However, many koa trees and mamane trees have been growing back quickly by keeping wild pigs out. The pigs like to eat these baby plants.

This area suffers from alien plants as same as the Mauna Kea area.

Also, I went to Kapoho area for snorkeling. It takes me around 40min. from Hilo to there.

I was shocked and disappointed a change of the area.

There are seawater tide ponds that have beautiful coral reefs and clear seawater with abundant marine creatures.

Even though the seawater tide ponds are surrounded by private houses, the area for snorkeling is open for public.

At my first time visit, one of ponds only I swam was so beautiful. I was like at a heaven welcomed by many marine creatures.

However, at my second visit, this pond becomes lifeless. The water was yellowish and brownish, and the temperature was very warm. A sudden big change made me so sad.

What happened to this pond? I want to find out!

As you know that economy of the Hawai'i islands mainly depends on tourism.

The islands are considered as one of the man's heavens.

Now, many people can easily access to many areas of the Hawai'i islands.

Tourists enjoy making their sweet memories here.

However, we should not forget how much impact we can leave on these Hawai'i aina (lands).

We need to go back to preserve these remote islands as much as possible.

We should not destroy the islands we call "heaven"......